Reciprocating mechanism for opening or closing barriers controlling openings.



N0. 666,I70. Patented Ian. l5, I90I.

WEBSTER. I REGIPROOATING MECHANISM FOR OPENING OR CLOSING BARRIERSCONTROLLING ongmnas.

(Application filed Oct, 25, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Shaets $heet l F a; a

VII/ll/ff/ll/l/I/ 1/1 m d A??? 42% Val/272% Patented Ian. l5, I901.

No. 666,I70.

v A. WEBSTER. REOIPROOATING MECHANISM FOR OPENING OR CLOSING BARRIERSCONTROLLING OPENINGS.

(Appliuti on filed Oct. 25, 1900.)

INVENTOR eats-Sheet 2.

- ATTORNEY WIT "m: uomys min; dofmom-uma. msnmomn. n. c.

E STATES ALBERT L. WEBSTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RECIPROCATING MECHANISM FOR OPENING OR CLOSlNG BARRIERS CONTROLLINGOPENINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 666,170, dated January15, 1901.

Application filed October 25. 1900- semi No. 34,269. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. WEBSTER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ReciprocatingMechanism for Opening and Closing Barriers (Jon'- trolling Openings, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for opening andclosing all kinds of barriers covering or controlling all kinds ofopenings, such as bulkhead --doors, hatches, ports, valves, and gates onshipboard and the doors, windows, and openings in factories, largebuildings, or any other place where such mechanism is necessary ordesirable.

The objects of my invention are to provide means for applying force,first, to move the barrier; second, to return it to its originalposition, and, third, for controlling the application of the force, sothat the barrier may be moved, held, and returned at the will of theperson operating it or by any automatic operating device actuated nearby or at a distance. I attain these objects by means of an apparatuswhich is simple, durable, positive in its action, reliable, and notlikely to get out of order, and which is operated by the application ofthe pressure of a liquid or a gas or other fluid medium or through avacuum oracombination of any of theseacting into vessels, tubes,cylinders, or other closed chambers attached to the barrier, each ofsaid closed chambers containing in its interior a piston attached to ahollow piston-rod which passes through either or both extremities of theclosed chamber, the said piston-rod being attached to the stationarysurface or wall upon which the barrier moves and being connected with apipe which serves alternately as the supply and exhaust pipe for theingress and egress of the impelling medium, the control of the impellingmedium used being effected by means of one or more valves or otherdevice so constructed and arranged with reference to the ingress andegress pipes that a single movement of the former by the operator or byany automatic operating device will permit the ingress and egress of theimpelling medium to and from the closed chambers and a consequentmovement of the barrier.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which the same partsare indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 represents a diagrammatic view of one form of my system asapplied to a single barrier when such barrier is raised, so as to leavethe opening uncovered. Fig. 2 rep resents a diagrammatic view when suchbarrier is closed, so as to leave the opening covered. Fig. 3 is anenlarged view of a portion of the same form, showing in section thepistons, a portion of the cylinders containing said pistons, and aportion of the rods contained Within said cylinders and attached to saidpistons. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 illustateanother form of my system, inwhich Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of such form as applied to a singlebarrier when such barrier is raised. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view ofthe same form when such barrier is closed. Figs. 6 and 7 are enlargedviews of the same form, showing, respectively, in section and in planthe pistons, a portion of the cylinders containing said pistons, and aportion of the rods contained within said cylinders and attached to saidpistons.

I have illustrated in the drawings a vertically-sliding door; but itwill be obvious that my system may be readily adapted to operate variousforms of doors, gates, ports, or valves other than that hereinspecifically described.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, D represents the door, which slides vertically inthe ways or guides W. Two cylinders O and O are secured to the door D,as by means of the plates and bolts f, and extend the whole length ofand a little above the door. Within the cylinder 0 a piston P isarranged, having the hollow piston -rod P, containing the ports 1"therein, extendingtherefrom through the entire length of the cylinder 0and through the upper cylinder-head c, which is provided with the usualpacking, and the said hollow piston-rod is secured as by means of theplates and bolts f to the stationary surface or wall upon which thebarrier moves. The upper end of the hollow piston-rod P communicateswith a pipe S, running to the valve V, through a chamber in which (whenthe valve is operatively turned) it connects with a branch pipe I) fromthe main service-pipe B, and thence to the reservoir A or other sourceof supply for the impelling medium, or in turn through theconnecting-channel in the valve V with the exhaust-pipe E, which maylead directly or indirectly either to the outside air or back to thesource of supply, (if gas or vapor be the impelling medium used,) oreither to waste or to a reservoir or back to the source of supply,(ifaliquid be theimpelling medium used,) or the pipe E may be omitted,if desired, and its port in the valve V may be used as the vent. If,however, the valve V be operated from a distance, such as the bridge orconning-tower of a vessel, the exhaust gas, vapor, or fluid from thepipe E may be advantageously used by running that pipe to a cylinder andscale or to a bell or other telltale at such distant station, as is wellunderstood, or, if the device is acting as a vacuummachine, thereservoir A should be in an exhaust condition of whole or partialvacuum, according to the conditions that may exist. Again, the cylinder0 is secured to the door D, as by means of the plates and bolts f, andextends the whole length of and a little above the door. Within thecylinder 0 is arranged a hollow piston T, through which the hollowpiston-rod T extends at its lower end into the chamber d below thepiston T. The hollow piston-rod T extends upward through the entirelength of the cylinder 0 and through the upper cylinder-head c, Which isprovided with the usual packing and is secured, as by means of theplates and bolts f, to the wall or surface upon which the door moves.The hollow piston-rod T communicates at its upper end with the pipe S,running to the valve V, and thence either according as the valve isoperatively turned through the branch pipe b to the main service-pipe Band reservoirA or to the exhaust-pipe E.

O is the opening to be closed bythe barrier or door D. The pipe 19connects the space d below the piston P in the cylinder 0 with the space6 in the cylinder 0 lying between the piston T and the cylinder-head cfor the purpose hereinafter specified.

The valve V is arranged to operate as follows: In one position itconnects the pistonpipe S with the main supply-pipe B, and at the sametime it connects the pipe S with the exhaust-pipe E. In another positionit connects the pipe S with the main supplypipe B, and at the same timeit connects the pipe S with the exhaust-pipe E. The details of thisvalve are not shown, as they may be varied, and any form of valve thatwill accomplish the same result may be used. The

valve is provided with a handle H to permit its being moved into thedesired position, and this motion may be accomplished by hand orautomatically nearby or at a distance.

The operation of the device, which may be operated as above indicatedeitherby a gas, vapor, or liquid or as a vacuum mechanism, is

eoaivo as follows: When the device is to be operated by a gas or fluidunder pressure, when the barrier is in the position shown in Fig. 1,with the barrier raised above the opening, the "alve V is set by thehandle or device I-I, so that the pipe B is in communication, throughthe branch pipe Z), valve V, and pipe S, with the interior of thepiston-rod T, while the interior of the piston-rod P communicates,through the pipe S and a passage in the valve V, with the exhaust-pipeE, running to the outside air or a reservoir for the fluid, asdescribed. In this position of the valve V the impelling medium will beadmitted from the source of supply A through pipe B, branch pipe 19,valve V, and pipe S to the interior of the hollow piston-rod T, andthence to the space 61'' lying between the piston T and the lowerhead-of'the cylinder 0. The pressure thus exerted on the lower head ofthe cylinder C tends to force down that cylinder, together with thedoor, and thus close the opening. Meanwhile the gas or fluid lyingbetween the piston T and the upper head of the cylinder 0 is forced outthrough the pipep into the space at lying between the lower surface ofthe piston P and the lower head of the cylinder 0, and as the spaces (1and e remain substantially constant in volume during any movement of thebarrier the escaping gas or fluid from the cylinder 0 will just serve tofill the space d as it enlarges through the closing of the barrier. Atthe same time the gas or fluid that is confined in the cylinder 0between the upper surface of the piston P and the upper head of thecylinder 0 is driven out through the ports 7 in the piston-rod P andthrough the interior of the piston-rod P into the pipe S, and thencethrough the passage in the valve V into the exhaust-pipe E.

When the device is in the position shown in Fig. 2, with the openingclosed bythe barrier or door D, and it is desired to raise the barrier,the operation is as follows: The impelling medium is admitted from thesource of supply A through the pipe B, branch pipe I), valve V, and pipeS through the interior of the hollow piston-rod P and ports 7* thereinto the space between the upper surface of the piston P and the upperhead 0 of the cylinder 0. The pressure'thus exerted tends to raise thecylinder C and with it the barrier or door D, while the gas or fluidconfined between the under surface of the piston P and lower end of thecylinder 0 in the space 61 is forced out through the pipe 13 into thespace between the upper surface of the piston T reservoir, as described,or the pipes S and S may be made to serve through branch pipes toseveral barriers simultaneously, and in this case the valve V mayoperate any desired number of barriers, or the two methods may be usedconcurrently.

Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show another arrangement of my system which is ingeneral similar in its construction and operation to the form shown inFigs. 1, 2, and 3; but in this second arrangement the separate cylindersin which the pistons P and T operate are placed substantiallyconcentrically one within the other, but have no connection with eachother other than that effected by the pipe 19, (shown in dotted lines,)which serves to communicate the space below the lower surface of thepiston P, operating in the cylinder C, with the space above the uppersurface of the piston T in the cylinder C; otherwise the constructionand operation of this form of the device are similar to the first formillustrated. Either of the cylinders may be placed within the otherwithout altering the operation, as the volume of fluid displaced by eachpiston should be equal to that of the other. There is some advantage inthis second form of the device in that the two cylinders are placedopposite the middle line of the door, thus averting a side thrust andany tendency to rack. This form is of special utility withvertically-sliding doors, but not so much so with those that slidehorizontally and where in consequence the cylinders are preferablylocated near the top of the door.

I have described my system as applied to a single barrier only; but itwill be understood that any convenient number of barriers may besimultaneously operated by duplicating the apparatus and having them allconnect by branch pipes with the main service-pipe B, so that theimpelling medium admitted in sufficient quantity and under sufficientpressure to the service'pipe B will pass through the branch pipes to theseveral valves and pipes leading to each barrier.

For convenience of illustration I have shown the cylinders on the doorsor barriers as placed side by side; but in practice on vertical barriersit would be preferable to place one in front of the other, so that bothof the cylinders would act on the middle line of the door, so as toavoid lateral thrust, thereby avoiding friction,racking,and jamming,while in some cases the method illustrated is preferable. I havealso described my device as supplied with the pipe 19, connecting thespace (1 with the space 6 in the cylinder 0 lying above the uppersurface of the piston T, and I prefer this arrangement, so as to supplysome back pressure on the pistons P and T in operation, and thus avoidthumping, as well as to close these spaces against the admission of dustor moisture; but the pipe p is not essential to the operation of mydevice, for these spaces may open, respectively, by ports to waste or toreservoirs. So, too, if the pipe 19 be employed it will be understoodthat it need not run directly from the space (1 to the upper interiorportion 6 of the cylinder 0; but it may pass through some intermediatedevice-such as an indicator placed at a distant station or otherintermediate apparatus, as desired-before passing to the interior of thecylinder 0.

If my mechanism be operated as a vacuum device, it will be understoodthat a reverse operation takes place to that obtaining where the pipe Bcontains the impelling medium under pressure. In this case a vacuum isestablished in the pipe B and the pressure operating the mechanism isatmospheric pressure acting through the pipe E and the correspondingports in the valve V, communicating with the pipes S and S, or themechanism may be operated by both pressure and vacuum.

My invention is not necessarily limited to a sliding barrier, as abovedescribed, for the reason that by making the cylinders O and C and thepiston-rods P and T curved and attaching the piston-rods to the surfaceor wall in which the opening is placed a swinging barrier may be openedand closed in substantially the same manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A movable barrieroperated by mechanism consisting of two separate independent chambersattached to the barrier, each chamber containing a stationary piston andhollow piston rod connected to pipes, and means whereby the impellingmedium is alternately admitted to and discharged from either end of eachof said pistons to open and close the barrier, substantially asdescribed.

2. A movable barrier operated by mechanism consisting of twoseparateindependent chambers placed one within the other and attached to thebarrier, each chamber containing a stationary piston and hollowpiston-rod connected to pipes, and means whereby the impelling medium isalternately admitted to or discharged from either end of each of saidpistons to open and close the barrier, substantially as described.

ALBERT L. WEBSTER.

Witnesses:

J. E. HINDON HYDE, JAMES M. STEWART.

